The Year in Review 1997: MARCH

In the second of his five known bids for a university presidency, Chodorow surreptitiously flew to California to interview for the chancellorship of the school's Los Angeles campus -- a position ultimately awarded to Harvard University Provost Albert Carnesale. At the time, University administrators claimed they didn't know where Chodorow was, with his assistant saying that he was in Florida. A March 9 fire caused by faulty construction lighting gutted the Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church at 33rd and Chestnut streets, costing the University at least $3.5 million. The church, which had undergone half of an $8.2 million restoration, was scheduled to open as the Charles Addams Fine Arts Hall in August. University Trustees approved a 4.5 percent increase in undergraduate tuition and fees, which rose from $28,096 to $29,354. The rate of increase was lower than past increases and the hike at most other Ivy League schools, but still 1.6 percent higher than the rate of inflation. The higher costs resulted partly from reduced state and federal subsidies. Joe Klein, the formerly "Anonymous" author of the political novel Primary Colors and a 1968 College graduate, told an audience at the Annenberg School for Communication that press coverage of the Clinton administration's scandals was obsessive and irresponsible. Also, Philadelphia sports-entertainment magnate Sol Snider gave the Wharton School $2 million to support the study of entrepreneurship. Snider owns Spectaguard Security Company, the University's security-guard contractor. U.S. News & World Report gave high ratings to several University graduate schools. The Wharton School's graduate division placed third for the second straight year, while the Nursing School also ranked third in its category. The School of Medicine dropped one notch to seventh place, and the Law School slipped from eighth to 11th place. And freshman Cliff Bayer won the NCAA fencing championships in the foil division. -- Michael Brus